How dumb are we?
…the governor of Helmand, Afghanistan’s largest poppy-producing province, says that this year he is determined to beat the illicit crop, which is a major source of money for drug lords and insurgents alike.
To do that, the governor plans to try something that has worked in other parts of Afghanistan… persuade farmers not to plant poppies at all!!
Easy enough??
He says it will take new seeds for farmers, new roads to get their legal crops to the market, reconstruction money, strict enforcement of laws against poppy growing and, perhaps most difficult of all, the elimination of the official corruption that has fueled the drug trade.
So far, Mangal has secured over $8 million from the United States and Britain for seeds and fertilizer for 26,000 farmers.
$8 Million?
An overlooked item in a budget of $10 billion a month?
The Defense Department will pay private U.S. contractors in Iraq up to $300 million over the next three years to produce news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements for the Iraqi media in an effort to “engage and inspire” the local population to support U.S. objectives and the Iraqi government.